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Friday, October 10, 2014

What to Write ~ Fruit of the Spirit ~ JOY

It's the second Friday of the month...the unofficial designated day to write to your sponsored kids!

I've started a series of "what to write" posts on the topic of the Fruit of the Spirit. In the first post, I introduced the Fruit of the Spirit and asked my kids to memorize Galations 5:22. In the second post, I focused on LOVE. Today, I'll continue down the list and write about JOY.

Dear

How
are you? We are well. The seasons have changed and that means cooler weather
and less

daylight.

A
couple months ago I asked you to memorize Galatians 5:22....

But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Last
month I shared some thoughts with you about love, and today we’ll move on to
the next fruit of the Spirit in the list….JOY. There are so many good Bible verses about joy.
Several times in Scripture you will find instructions to “shout for joy”.

Shout
for joy to the Lord all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music. ~ Psalm
98:4

So
what is joy? Is it being happy? I would say that joy is more about knowing God
is in control of every part of our lives and that we choose to praise Him in
every situation. It’s the opposite of worry.

When I
think of what makes me joyful I think about the fact that God sent His one and
only son, Jesus, to earth as a baby. When the angel appeared to the shepherds in
the field to announce the birth of Jesus they said, “Do not be afraid. I bring
you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Luke 2:10

Because of Jesus - his life, his death and his resurrection - we can be joyful in all circumstances because we know our hope is in God.

I'll leave you with two more of my favorite verses about JOY. It seems that God is commanding us to be joyful.

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice! ~ Philippians 4:4

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ~ 2 Thessalonians 5:16-18

What is your favorite Bible verse about joy? I'm praying for you - that God will fill you with JOY and that you will strive to joyful always.